The big thaw: Policy, governance and climate change in the circumpolar North

Type:

Meeting or Conference

Organizer:

SUNY Buffalo Law School

Date:

18-19 Apr 2013

Location:

United States of America (New York)

Venue:

SUNY Buffalo Law School

Conference participants will deliberate on international, national, and local perceptions of environmental, cultural, social and economic change in the arctic, interweaving the contexts of policy, legal, local and scientific models. Through its core focus on time, space, change and movement, this conference seeks common measures to the time scales of lived human experience in the arctic and sub-arctic region in a warming world.

The Circumpolar North is a critical observatory for changing relations between human societies and the environment, and the policies that should accompany such change. The arctic and the sub-arctic are at the center of global debates on Post- Cold War partnerships and issues of post-colonial governance, strategy and regional sovereignty. For political and other reasons, the Circumpolar North has only recently reemerged as a "region," revealing past connections and current common problems, and pointing to future challenges. Experts will gather and share thoughts on how they arrived at the current situation(s), where exactly things stand, and where to go from here.